Page 52 of Ezekiel
“Yes, but no. It’s not like that. I wouldn’t exactly call it painful. Zeke started off on a low level, and it sort of tingled and buzzed on my skin. I swear it almost tickled. But as he increased the voltage, it was like this delicious little zap of pain that pushed me higher. And when he mixed that with pleasure…” I trailed off with a delighted groan. He had combined the two — pleasure and pain — until I couldn’t think straight. I was awash with sensations I had never experienced, and I lost my mind with it all. I was under his hands, and completely at his mercy. It was quickly becoming my favorite place to be.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m just so glad we all found our soulmates,” Delilah sighed contentedly. The word rolled around in my mind for a moment. Soulmate. Was Zeke my soulmate? Sure, in the bedroom things were electric. Pun intended. But was he my soulmate? Perhaps someday he would be.
“It will certainly make things easier once we all leave,” Ruth agreed.
“What do you mean?” I asked, confused by her words. Where were they going?
“Yeah, when we all leave Zion,” Ruth clarified. I vaguely heard Delilah’s agreement, but my mind was reeling with the words Ruth had just spoken. Leave Zion? Why were they leaving Zion?
“What do you mean?” I asked again, the words passing my lips in a near whisper of disbelief.
“I know what you mean.” Delilah agreed with Ruth, not hearing my whispered words. “While I know it will be hard, I’m so ready for the rest of the brothers to fulfill their duties so we can all leave. There is this entire world out there to experience. Ollie and I have had so many discussions about it. We even started a new bucket list of things we want to do together once we are out in the real world,” she nearly squealed in excitement.
“Levi and I have done something similar,” Ruth replied happily. I sat there in stunned silence. Leave Zion? All the brothers — and apparently their wives — were leaving Zion?
“Talia? Are you still there?” Delilah asked, and I realized I had been quiet for an inappropriate amount of time. I hadn’t heard the last several things the girls had uttered. Not that my brain could have handled any other bombshells at that moment.
Leave Zion?
Our homes?
Our families?
Dread and panic enveloped me like a suffocating fog.
“Talia?” Ruth’s voice invaded my thoughts, bringing me back to the present.
“Yes. Sorry. I’m here. Listen, I need to get a few things done before Zeke gets home from the church. I still can’t believe they cut our honeymoon down to only a single week. Regardless, today was his first day working, and I want to make sure he comes home to a clean house. You both understand.” I laughed it off, hoping that my tone sounded as nonchalant as I intended it to.
“Oh, of course! Only a week? That’s hardly enough time. Please call us anytime, Talia. For anything. And we should get together for lunch later this week, okay?” Ruth exclaimed. Though they couldn’t see me, I still smiled. Easily one of the fakest smiles that had ever crossed my face.
Goodbyes and well-wishes were quickly uttered, and I clicked the end button on Zeke’s phone. The silence in the house was near deafening in the wake of the truth I had just learned.
Zeke and his brothers were leaving Zion.
I don’t know which hurt more. That they were all leaving? Or that he hadn’t told me yet.
We had shared so much in such a short time together. From the truth about his condition to the truth of his kinks, which we now both shared. There was a vulnerability there that we lived in together. And because of that shared vulnerability, I had felt safe. How could I feel safe now, knowing he had not been honest with me? Why hadn’t he been honest with me? Would we be in the same place today if he had been truthful from the beginning? Or would I have pushed him away and shut down on him?
I had no idea, but it didn’t matter now. Now, it was time for my husband to answer some questions.
The rest of the afternoon passed quickly, mostly because I had busied myself with as much cleaning as I could do. I even pulled every item from the refrigerator and cleaned every nook and cranny of the appliance until it shined as though it were brand new. I had just finished putting the food back in pristine order when I heard the front door open.
“Talia?” Zeke’s voice rang out into the house. I could hear the exhaustion in his voice. Surely, the day had not gone well for him. We had talked about how difficult it was for him to be in large groups of people. The sounds alone were sure to have caused him more discomfort than I could imagine.
I wanted to be there for him. I wanted to help him deal with the chaos and difficulties of his day. Of course I did. But the only thought that I could focus on was his dishonesty. His deception. That’s what it was. He had deceived me, and the pain of that fact cut me like a knife.
“Talia, where are you?” he called out again. I stood there, frozen in the kitchen, trying my hardest to find the words that I would need.
“Talia, there you are,” he sighed with relief as he walked into the kitchen. He walked up behind me, his hands wrapping around my waist. “I had one hell of a day and all I want to do is—”
“No,” I whispered. I had to whisper. If I didn’t whisper, I would have screamed at him at the top of my lungs.
“Kiss you until I forget all about it,” he continued, not having heard me.
“I said no,” I said more firmly, taking his hands and pulling them away from my body.
“Are you okay?” he asked in surprise. I spun around on my heel to face him.
